October 2026 has emerged as the most intense month on record for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waterways, amid escalating hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran.
According to data compiled by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 28 confirmed and reported attacks were recorded in the region during October, taking the cumulative total to 113 since the conflict began on February 28, 2026.
Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the institute who maintains its interactive shipping incident map, said October had witnessed the highest number of ship attacks on record. Most incidents recorded during September and October occurred in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy transit route.
Data from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) broadly aligns with the findings. The IMO has recorded 120 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East since the conflict began.
A Reuters review of the IMO’s incident list and MarineTraffic vessel data identified more than 30 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) damaged during the attacks, including 11 in October alone. Each VLCC can carry approximately two million barrels of crude oil. The affected vessels represent around 3.5% of the global VLCC fleet, which exceeds 900 ships.
The attacks have intensified as shipowners have become increasingly willing to load cargoes inside the Gulf, attracted by daily freight rates exceeding $1 million and deeper discounts offered by regional crude producers against dated Brent.
Greece-based maritime consultancy Marisks described October as the most intense period of maritime attacks in and around the Strait of Hormuz since hostilities escalated in March. Between October 5 and October 11, 12 ships were attacked, marking the highest weekly number of incidents since the conflict began.
Raydan said Iran was intensifying attacks to slow the recovery in shipping activity and maintain pressure on global energy markets ahead of the US midterm elections in November. Reuters had earlier reported similar tactics, citing two senior Iranian officials.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the British maritime security service, recorded 135 incidents linked to the US-Iran conflict as of October 16. However, the agency warned that insufficient voluntary reporting by shipping companies was making it difficult to capture the full extent of maritime security incidents.
UKMTO data also indicated a sharp increase in vessel damage caused by attacks during October.
The escalating incidents pose growing risks to tanker operations, crude oil transportation and global energy supply chains, while potentially increasing freight rates, insurance costs and uncertainty across international shipping markets.